French serial killer Thierry Paulin murders Rachel Cohen

On November 25, 1987, French serial killer Thierry Paulin murders Rachel Cohen, age 79. On the same day, he attacked 87-year-old, Berthe Finalteri, whom he suffocated and left for dead. Two days later, he strangled Genevieve Germont, who would be his last victim.

As Paulin celebrated his 24th birthday, Finalteri unexpectedly recovered, and was able to give an accurate description of her attacker. On December 1, Paulin was arrested while walking down the street when a local police inspector, Francis Jacob, recognized him from Finalteri's description. After two days in custody, Paulin admitted everything and was eventually charged with 18 murders (though he claimed responsibility for 21). He was sent to jail to await trial but in early 1988, he fell ill, and began to succumb to the effects of AIDS. Within a year he was hospitalized in a state of near-paralysis, suffering from both tuberculosis and meningitis. He died during the night of April 16, 1989, in the hospital wing of Fresnes prison.

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With the purpose of writing about true crime in an authoritative, fact-based manner, veteran journalists J. J. Maloney and J. Patrick O’Connor launched Crime Magazine in November of 1998. Their goal was to cover all aspects of true crime: Read More